Although this may provide a good response, companies are forced to settle for only those that apply to the adverts and not necessarily the best candidates.
Debbie Goodman, Managing Director of Jack Hammer Executive Headhunters, says: "Only 20% of employees in any designated market sector are actively looking for jobs and those are the ones that will respond to job advertisements.
"Of the remaining 80%, approximately 75% are passive job seekers who are open to hearing about alternative career opportunities if approached by a professional headhunter. This is the huge group of talent that is missed completely by agencies that place ads and hope for the best."
Goodman says that of the group that is 'missed', many are top achievers in their organizations: "They are the people with the vision and skills to add a new dimension to the bottom line. They are often the 'high demand short supply' people whom companies are trying very hard to attract when they advertise."
Goodman says that true headhunters should be differentiated from recruitment agencies because they strategically and aggressively look for the right candidate whereas agencies typically place adverts or mine existing database - which is often the sum total extent of agencies' efforts.
"Finding the right candidate should be based on thorough research in targeted markets to identify the very best candidates - advertising can limit the scope to the best of a rather limited market of only active job seekers.
"With advertising the employer doesn't have real quality control because they are relying on the hope that the best candidates will respond. Headhunting provides clients with the confidence that the short-listed candidates are the very best of the entire market, including both active and passive job seekers."
Of course, the service doesn't end here: "Once a top quality candidate has been selected, they need to be persuaded to move and analysing candidate needs and facilitating closure of a mutually acceptable employment deal is a critical part of the process."
